A man sentenced to prison for five crimes and released on parole before ending his jail time has set on fire a 17-year-old girl from Drobeta Turnu Severin. The victim had filed a complaint against the criminal for rape and abuse last week, and the man wanted to get revenge the past weekend.
The man, aged 45 and the girl were connected through a social media network, but their precise relation was not very clear. He apparently went to her house, spray the girl with gas and set her on fire. Accoridng to preliminary information, the victim’s brother, also a minor, prompted in and managed to extinguish the fire.
The girl was hospitalized in a very serious condition, as she suffered burns that need 4-45 days of hospitalization and that jeopardize her life.
The man was identified and had been arrested.
This case reminds of other tragedies occurred in Romania in the past years, such as the amendment of the justice laws, or Caracal and Colectiv cases, when the state failed to protect the citizens.
In this case, it reveals the paradox of a criminal with a life sentence who was released from prison for good conduct. Last year, the court motivated his release: “The time served in prison was enough to re-educate the convict”. The criminal had asked to be released from hail nine times.
The girl had asked for the Police’s help several days before the tragedy, denouncing that she had been raped. However, the authorities claim that the rape had not been confirmed, but they put her in a social assistance centre anyway, whereof she was taken out by her family, although the family knew the girl had problems with the former prisoner. The girl’s father told mass media that the man had harassed his daughter.
Moreover, the former prisoner was monitored by the police, for he had returned from the Netherlands and was under self-isolation. Despite this, he was able to leave his house undisturbed and went to the girl’s place.
The girl is admitted now to Grigore Alexandrescu Hospital in Bucharest with burns on 90% of her body. She is in an extremely serious condition, on life support. She had been previously transferred to two other hospitals. Her arrival in Bucharest was delayed for 24 hours for there are still no beds for serious burns in Romania. She was hospitalized at Grigore Alexandrescu following the Health minister’s intervention.
The man committed 5 crimes in the past: he killed three border guards and a family -man and wife. He was sentenced to life, and had served 25 years until he was released on parole.